Bidding Adieu 2016 |retrospect 2016

We are in the last day of the year 2016 and just a few hours away from 2017.Alhamdulillah 2016 has been a marvellous year and the Almighty has showered his blessings as always .Join me in  the journey as I take you along the aisles of The food factory.It has been 2 years of food blogging but definitely 2016 has been a turning point in the journey .with this post it is a total of 58 posts this year. Sharing one of my favourite click from each month .

January 2016

The year started on a sweet note with this Lauki barfi .When the whole world was going gaga over vegan diet how can i be left behind ?Shared the first Vegan kebabs on the blog .Then came this fusion recipe Jalebi pudding  which was much admired .

February 2016

Started February with a family favourite vegetarian curry Palak paneer .This month has seen some family favourites in a row .And the second one lined was Mini banoffee pie  .  

Then appeared these chocofill cookies which was also a family favourite. February has been a month of decisions and I invested 50 k  (indian rupees) in a smart phone and began exploring it for food photography .When I chose a  phone over a Dslr I was a bit sceptical .But I must say that it was a wise decision .And my phone hasn't let me down and it was worth the investment.The first click taken with the phone that appeared on the blog was Apple banana smoothie . 

March 2016

There was no more looking back and I ditched my digital camera and started exploring my mobile for food photography .The mobile that boasts of the camera as its USP was put under pressure test and the result was this Leopard bread that remains the most viewed recipe on the blog .My inclination towards dark and moody photography resulted in this Turmeric and ginger pickle  and I continued to play with light and shadows and it was visible through the pictures in Strawberry coulis ,white chocolate cups  .March was the month i posted a total of 10 recipes that was an all time high this year.Finally after along await these middle eastern snack Falafel made its presence on the blog .My love for fresh turmeric continued and the result was this turmeric cooler .Scheduled some posts as I was heading on a two week break.The first one was this malai chicken tikka biryani  followed by chocolate cake with mirror glaze , broccoli smoothie  ,marag,

April 2016

Started April with a cooler pomegranate mint lemonade followed by open egg sandwich. Coming back after a break and juggling with the kids new academic year and blog  posted the shakshuka recipe .April just whiled away with dealing the kids and new challenges in the school.

May 2016

Then came the season of mangoes and I had tried this jaconde imprime style mango mousse cake for a competition in a baking group.May was the month of experiments and tried back to back 2 Oriya recipes one was this nadia bhara jhol and the other one this mandia pitha .Andhra style chicken 65 too appeared on the blog .Summer is the time to relish ice creams and the first ever ice cream recipe on the blog pista badam kulfi was published.The recipe for pizza bombs was shared with the readers.South Indian summer favourite  nannari syrup  was made from scratch.

June 2016 

The scorching summer demanded a nannari lemonade.Ramadan was round the corner and was apart of lubna's Ramadan event and shared the recipe of pizza rolls .with the readers of yummy food.Amidst the Ramadan fasting and prepping up for our annual vacations to India shared this healthy roasted eggplant and yogurt dip .

July 2016 

The blog literally starved for a month until we returned back from our vacations.Back home it was a moment of joy as the family was gearing up for the wedding of my brother.July was a whirl wind of activities with Eid and wedding preps.Bro's wedding was a chance to meet the far and near relatives whom we hadn't seen in years.With all the memories engulfed in photographs and with a wish to visit soon we ended the trip.

August 2016

Trying to settle down and bring back the life to normalcy is the biggest challenge after returning from the home land .I too was no different .Mustering my courage to cope up with the situation and of course the scorching summer was able to put up only one recipe of Pasta salad .Children were still enjoying their vacations and days were relaxing and lazy .

September2016

Finally the schools reopened after a70 day long summer vacation giving me a lease of life .Was very eager to return back to blogging and posted the very first recipe of vanilla chiffon cake after a long time.With Eid ul adha and week long holidays blogging was at back foot.This time for the blogoversary made this strawberry cake  .Tried to makeup for the lost time and became regular with blogging and posted soya chunks and kairi dal.

October 2016

South Indian summer special jigarthanda graced the blog.The other wise lazy fb page slowly started to see a growth at the pace of a snail .That literally boosted my morale and tried to keep the consistency in blogging.Went on to post 2 to 3 recipe s a week starting with brocooli cheese kebabs, Dum ka roat, Pine apple ginger ale,  vegan haleem .

November 2016

The blog stats slowly picked up and I was more joyous than ever .There was a point that the blog had seen some 1500 page views a day ,an all time high record since I started blogging.Chicken chowmein recipe was shared with the readers .Andhra favourite uggani    was posted.With the winter bounty baked this fig almond rose cake and it was hit.Was trying to concentrate more on regional cuisine and posted gosht ka achaar  .The chill in the air was compellimg to cook some fritters and how can the blog be left behind .It was time for some cookie love in the form of chocolate cookies . Carrying on the desire to preserve the native recipes shared one more Hyderabad delicacy Dum ka murg  .The season of fall was experienced in the form of fruit shaped kaju katli.November ended on a sweet note with this coconut jelly.

December 2016

The year was about to end and my motto to preserve and share regional recipes was further carried on with this  amla pickle . This year there was bumper pine apple sale here in Qatar and made some pine apple jam .With winter at the door step shared the grandmothers remedy for cold and cough turmeric milk.Was part of  Muslim blogger challenge and the result was this almond hijazi coffee .Winters and apples are synonymous and baked an upside down apple cake .Shared one more regional recipe in the form of kairi gosht which is native to Hyderabad.A simple and easy sooji kheer was shared .The top 10 recipes of 2016 was shared with the readers.

With this last post I bid adieu 2016 and welcome 2017 with open arms .

Alhamdulillah with the grace of Almighty and the support of readers 2016 was a joyous ride.

What are the plans for 2017?

I am literally a looser when it comes to planning and execution .I believe Al mighty is the best of planners and we are just puppets in his hand .So no planning ,no resolutions live life as it comes to you and always be grateful for everything you have .

Until next time take care and see you in 2017 .